(Note: We tried not to give too much away in this review and tried to be, for the most part, general in our description of what you'll see to not fill this thing with spoilers.)
Martin Scorsese's "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" is a three-hour extravaganza into his life that's really two movies in one. Taken together, it's an enlightening and emotional journey about a man who had a lot of love to give and, from the statements of his friends, got a lot in return.
The first part, which you'll see Oct. 5 on HBO, centers on the best of the Beatle years and is really an extension of "The Beatles Anthology." It features interview footage of Harrison shot for that retrospective in which he, the other Beatles and various friends remember a time, as Harrison put it, when the world went crazy.
Those early memories are punctured with stories from his brothers Harry and Pete Harrison, former wife Pattie Boyd, Astrid Kirchherr, Klaus Voormann, Yoko Ono, Sir George Martin and, of course, Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.
Most of the music in part one has been previously released, though there is an excerpt of the session tape from "Don't Bother Me." About the song, George said it made him realize prophetically that "all I had to do is keep writing and maybe I'd come up with something good."
And the Beatles continue to tantalize fans' appetites for a video collection with pristine clips like the brief one from "Strawberry Fields Forever" shown.
Part one ends as Eric Clapton agrees to play on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," signaling the real beginning of the fracturing of the Beatles and George moving out on his own. Indeed, he says that by the time the group split, he and the rest of the band all wanted out.
Part two, to air Oct. 6, details the breakup and George's solo years and how the multi-album "All Things Must Pass" was the freeing of his creativity that had been held back during the Beatle years.
An interesting moment in the film comes when Phil Spector, wig and all, who's now serving a jail term for murder, talks about the "All Things Must Pass" sessions and how he suggested "My Sweet Lord" as the album's single. The film shows the front page of New Musical Express for the week of Feb. 6, 1971, when George topped both the singles and album charts and the headline read, "Double Top George."
The last half hour of the film is heartwrenching as Olivia, who doesn't appear in the film until 58 minutes into part 2, talks about the intruder who broke into their home and stabbed Harrison, and his later death from cancer. The final memories of Harrison by his two fellow Beatles, especially Ringo, who is overcome with emotion, are especially stirring.
However, it's Olivia's final thoughts, which we won't give away, that leave the film with an uplifting note.
There are some interesting moments of unreleased music in part two as there are in part one. These include a demo of "Isn't It a Pity" and a rough mix of "All Things Must Pass." But also very captivating are the rare photos and film, including several moments of the Traveling Wilburys recording and sitting around the table playing together and clips from his 1974 North American solo tour with George singing "Dark Horse" and "What Is Life."
Terry Gilliam of Monty Python pins down the essence of the film, saying how Harrison was caught between his spiritual and material worlds and how his life was filled trying to find the beauty in both.
But maybe even a better explanation comes at the beginning of the film when son Dhani Harrison tells of a recent dream where he asked his dad where he'd been all this time. "Here" was the answer.
It's like he never left. Such is the beauty of the film and the lasting impact of the man popularly known as the Quiet Beatle.
FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THIS MOVIE:
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Steve Marinucci is the author of the Beatles Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner), Paul McCartney Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-34954-Paul-McCartney-Examiner), Vintage Rock 'n' Roll Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-19248-Vintage-Rock-n-Roll-Examiner) and TV on DVD Examiner columns on Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/x-10254-TV-on-DVD-Examiner).
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